More Israel troops leave Gaza, but bombardment goes on

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Israel withdrew more ground troops from the Gaza Strip on Sunday, while continuing fierce bombardment that killed at least 30 people in the day’s early hours, according to Palestinian officials. More casualties were reported Sunday at a United Nations school being used as a shelter in Rafah, in southern Gaza, where heavy fighting has been going on since Friday morning.

The origin of the school strike was not immediately clear, but Palestinian health officials said it killed at least 10 people. Chris Gunness, a spokesman for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, said on Twitter that about 3,000 people were sheltered at the school when shellfire nearby caused multiple deaths and injuries.

Meanwhile, Israeli officials suggested that the ground operation in Gaza - centered on destroying Palestinian militants’ “attack tunnels” and rocket-launching capabilities - was winding down, but they stressed that all options remained open.

“In the next 24 hours we will continue ongoing activities and redeployment of some of our forces in the Gaza Strip,” army spokesman Peter Lerner said at a news briefing. Though he said Israel was “extremely close” to achieving its aims, he added that “the reality on the ground can take us either way.”

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Rafah, a ragged town on the border with Egypt, has been pummled by Israeli airstrikes since militant fighters emerged from a tunnel on Friday morning, ambushing and killing two Israeli soldiers. A third, 2nd Lt. Hadar Goldin, had been feared captured, but early Sunday, the Israeli military said that based on evidence gathered from the scene, he had been declared dead.

Palestinians said the death toll in Rafah - where power has been cut off and medical personnel have been overwhelmed by a flood of injured - was expected to rise as bodies were dug from the rubble. The overall Palestinian death toll has risen above 1,700, most of them civilians, surpassing the total deaths in Israel’s two previous Gaza offensives in the past five years.

At least 64 Israeli soldiers have been killed, Israel’s biggest wartime losses since an offensive in Lebanon eight years ago.

Hamas has cast the Israeli pullback that has taken place so far as a victory, and spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said Israel would suffer whether or not its troops remained in Gaza. Successive international efforts to negotiate a cease-fire have failed, with the latest truce effort collapsing on Friday.